Adopt Ordinance ___U, an ordinance of the city of Rancho
Palos Verdes regarding storm water and urban runoff pollution control,
amending Chapter 13.10 of Title 13 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal
Code, and declaring the urgency thereof.

Introduce for first reading Ordinance ___, an ordinance
of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes regarding storm water and urban runoff
pollution control and amending Chapter 13.10 of Title 13 of the Rancho
Palos Verdes Municipal Code

BACKGROUND

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is a co-permittee of a
countywide water quality permit, issued by the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board -- Los Angeles Region in accordance with the Federal
Clean Water Act.

On December 6, 2000, the City Council adopted Ordinance
No. 361 amended the City’s existing Stormwater Ordinance set forth Chapter
13.10 of the Municipal Code, to comply with the 1996 Municipal Permit.
This permit required cities to revise to require that certain private
projects include a Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan (SUSMP)
as part of their development plans, and, in specified cases, include post-construction
Structural and Treatment Controls meeting the standards set forth in the
SUSMP.

A SUSMP is a plan that, among other things, accompanies
a plan of development to assure that the project design achieves the following:

Captures or treats the first ¾ inch of rainfall from
each storm event

Does not increase the post-development discharge to
a rate greater than the pre-development discharge rate if there is a
potential for downstream erosion

Preserves natural areas of a project to the extent
possible

Minimizes the introduction of pollutants

Minimizes slope and channel erosion

Provides storm drain system stenciling

Provides a properly designed area for the outside storage
of material

Provides a properly designed trash enclosure

After the RWQCB adopted the new Municipal NPDES Permit,
the City joined with 31 other Cities in an administrative appeal of the
Board’s decision. The State Board has conducted a Public Hearing on the
appeal but has not announced a decision. For this reason, it is possible
that the State Board will make a ruling at any time that would modify
the current regulations.

Nevertheless cities have a duty to adopt an ordinance
that complies with the Municipal NPDES Permit that can be implemented
by September 2, 2002. This is the reason that the identical revisions
to the Municipal Code have been included in both an urgency ordinance
and a non-urgency ordinance. The urgency ordinance becomes effective immediately
upon adoption and requires a four-fifths vote for approval by the Members
of the City Council, so as to be effective before the September 2, 2002
deadline. The non-urgency ordinance will become effective thirty days
after the second reading, which will occur at the next City Council meeting
and will be effective at the end of September.

The categories of project which currently require a SUSMP
under Chapter 13.10 are:

Single Family hillside developments (25% slope or greater)

Housing development with 10 or more units

Restaurants

Auto repair facilities

Service Stations

Commercial Development in excess of 100,000 square
foot of total project size

Parking lots with 25 or more spaces.

The ordinance, as required by the new Municipal NPDES
Permit, expands these categories to include, among other things:

For projects in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, the most
far-reaching aspect of the new requirement relates to the Environmentally
Sensitive Areas.

The ordinance, as required by the new Municipal NPDES
Permit, also requires the development of site-specific storm water management
plans on projects not otherwise requiring a SUSMP where the project has
certain specified characteristics that may have an effect on the quality
of runoff. Furthermore, the ordinance modifies existing definitions in
Chapter 13.10 and adds new definitions to conform to the changes made
in the new Municipal NPDES Permit.

The proposed ordinance includes the following improvements
over the current ordinance:

All single-family redevelopment projects are exempt
from including a SUSMP, A redevelopment from the Regional Board’s perspective
is an addition to an existing improvement. This means that simple additions
to an existing home will not trigger the need for a SUSMP.

Far less of the City is included as an Environmentally
Sensitive Areas.

CONCLUSION

Adopting the staff recommendation will incorporate the
new storm water requirements into the City’s Municipal Code as required
by RWQCB.

This ordinance may be subject to revision by depending
on the outcome of the petitions currently before the State Water Resources
Control Board. Although no hearing date has been scheduled yet, staff
believes that the State Board will determine the petitions in or around
September 2002. The City will also need to make other revisions of Chapter
13.10 by November 2002 and other Code sections to incorporate permit requirements.
However, those other requirements may be modified by the State Board’s
decision on the petitions. The ordinance was prepared based on staff’s
understanding of the current version of the Municipal NPDES Permit. It
is also possible that revisions to the ordinance will be required once
the State Water Board announces a decision on the appeal filed by the
coalition of Cities.

FISCAL IMPACT

This ordinance will have a limited direct fiscal impact
on the City; the regulations typically apply to private developments (although
any new City facilities within the defined project categories will also
have to comply). The ordinance will have a fiscal impact on new private
projects. There will be higher development costs to comply with the ordinance
although a precise amount is difficult to determine at this time.

Submitted by,Dean E. AllisonDirector of Public Works

Reviewed by,Les Evans, City Manager

Attachments:

Exhibit of Environmentally sensitive areasOrdinance NoUOrdinance No

RWGNo: 702224-1

ORDINANCE
NO. ____U

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS
VERDES
REGARDING STORM WATER AND URBAN RUNOFF POLLUTION
CONTROL, AMENDING CHAPTER 13.10 OF TITLE 13 OF
THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES MUNICIPAL CODE,

AND DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF.

WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes ("City")
is a permittee under the "Waste Discharge Requirements for Municipal
Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges Within the County of Los Angeles,
and the Incorporated Cities Therein, Except the City of Long Beach"
(Order No. 01-182), NPDES Permit No. CAS00401), dated December 13, 2001,
issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board -- Los Angeles
Region (the "Municipal MPDES Permit"), which serves as a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permit under
the Federal Clean Water Act; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, the City Council of the City of Rancho
Palos Verdes adopted Ordinance No. 318 regulating waste discharge for
municipal storm water and urban runoff; and

WHEREAS, on December 6, 2000, the City Council of the
City of Rancho Palos Verdes adopted Ordinance No. 361, entitled "An
Ordinance Of The City Of Rancho Palos Verdes Amending The Storm Water
And Urban Runoff Pollution Control Ordinance To Provide Storm Water Pollution
Control For Planning And Construction Of New Development And Redevelopment
Projects And Amending The Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code" (the
SUSMP Ordinance"); and

WHEREAS, the Municipal NPDES Permit requires the City,
as a permittee, to make specified amendments to its SUSMP Ordinance by
August 1, 2002, to take effect by September 2, 2002;

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO
PALOS VERDES DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Findings.

This ordinance will work to preserve and improve water
quality and aquatic life. In enacting this ordinance, the City is acting
as a regulatory agency to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement,
and protection of natural resources and the environment in response to
the order of the Regional Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region.
Specifically, the ordinance will impose additional restrictions on storm
water runoff from construction sites, require Standard Urban Storm Water
Mitigation Plans and Site Specific Mitigation Plans for additional projects,
and authorize inspections to verify compliance with the discharge limitations.
Consequently, the enactment of this ordinance is categorically exempt
from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §§ 15307 and 15308.

Section 2.The first paragraph of Section
13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10 of Title 13 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Except as specifically provided herein, any term
used in this Chapter shall be defined as that term is defined in the current
Municipal NPDES Permit, or in the current version of the Standard Urban
Storm Water Mitigation Plan ("SUSMP") approved by the Regional
Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region, or if it is not specifically
defined in either the Municipal NPDES Permit or the SUSMP, then as such
term is defined in the Federal Clean Water Act, as amended, and/or the
regulations promulgated hereunder. If the definition of any term contained
in the current Municipal NPDES Permit conflicts with the definition contained
in the current version of the SUSMP, then the definition contained in
the Municipal NPDES Permit shall govern. The following words and phrases
shall have the following meanings when used in this Chapter:"

Section 3.Section 13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 13 of the Municipal Code is further amended by amending paragraphs
C, D, F, K, P, V, X, and Z to substitute the following definitions for
and in place of the existing definitions, as follows:

"C. "Automotive Service Facilities" means
a facility that is categorized in any one of the following Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) codes: 5013, 5014, 5541, 7532-7534, or 7536-7539
(as amended).

D. "Best Management Practices (BMP’s)" means
activities, practices, facilities, and/or procedures that when implemented
to their maximum efficiency will prevent or reduce pollutants in discharges
and any program, technology, process, siting criteria, operational methods
or measures, or engineered systems, which when implemented prevent, control,
remove, or reduce pollution. Examples of BMP’s may include public education
and outreach, proper planning of development projects, proper cleaning
of catch basin inlets, and proper sludge- or waste handling and disposal,
among others.

F. "Commercial Development" means any development
on private land that is not heavy industrial or residential. The category
includes, but is not limited to: hospitals, laboratories and other medical
facilities, educational institutions, recreational facilities, plant nurseries,
car wash facilities, mini-malls and other business complexes, shopping
malls, hotels, office buildings, public warehouses and other light industrial
complexes.

K. "Hillside" means property located in an area
with known erosive soil conditions, where the development contemplates
grading on any natural slope that is twenty-five percent or greater and
where grading contemplates cut or fill slopes.

P. "Municipal NPDES Permit" means the "Waste
Discharge Requirements for Municipal Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges
Within the County of Los Angeles, and the Incorporated Cities Therein,
Except the City of Long Beach" (Order No. 01-182, NPDES Permit No.
CAS00401), dated December 13, 2001, issued by the California Regional
Water Quality Control Board -- Los Angeles Region, and any successor permit
to that permit.

V. "Parking Lot" means land area or a facility
for the parking or storage of motor vehicles used for businesses, commerce,
industry or personal use with a lot size of five thousand (5,000) square
feet or more of surface area, or with twenty-five (25) or more parking
spaces.

X. "Redevelopment" means land-disturbing activity
that results in the creation, addition or replacement of at least five
thousand (5,000) square feet of impervious surface area on an already
developed site. Redevelopment includes, but is not limited to, the following
activities that meet the minimum standards set forth in this definition:
(1) the expansion of a building footprint; (2) the addition or replacement
of a structure; (3) the replacement of an impervious surface that is not
part of a routine maintenance activity; and (4) land disturbing activities
related to structural or impervious surfaces. Redevelopment does not include
routine maintenance activities that are conducted to maintain original
line and grade, hydraulic capacity, original purpose of facility or an
emergency redevelopment activity that is required to protect public health
and safety.

Section 4.Section 13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 3 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code is further amended
to add the following new definitions in appropriate alphabetical sequence:

"Construction" means constructing, clearing, grading,
or excavation that results in soil disturbance. Construction includes
structure teardown. It does not include routine maintenance to maintain
original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of a
facility; emergency construction activities required to immediately protect
public health and safety; interior remodeling with no outside exposure
of construction material or construction waste to storm water; mechanical
permit work; or sign permit work.

"Control" means to minimize, reduce, eliminate, or prohibit
by technological, legal, contractual or other means, the discharge of
pollutants from an activity or activities.

"Development" means any construction, rehabilitation,
redevelopment or reconstruction of any public or private residential project
(whether single-family, multi-unit or planned unit development); industrial,
commercial, retail and other non-residential projects, including public
agency projects; or mass grading for future construction. It does not
include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic
capacity, or original purpose of a facility, nor does it include emergency
construction activities required to immediately protect public health
and safety.

"Directly Adjacent" means situated within 200
feet of the contiguous zone required for the continued maintenance, function,
and structural stability of an environmentally sensitive area.

"Discharge," when used without further qualification
of the term, means the "discharge of a pollutant."

"Discharging Directly" means outflow from a
drainage conveyance system that is composed entirely or predominantly
of flows from the subject, property, development, subdivision, or industrial
facility, and not commingled with the flows from adjacent lands.

"Discharge of a Pollutant" means any addition
of any "pollutant" or combination of pollutants to "waters
of the United States" from any "point source" or, any addition
of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the waters of the "contiguous
zone" or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other
floating craft that is being used as a means of transportation. The term
"discharge of a pollutant" includes additions of pollutants
into waters of the United States from surface runoff that is collected
or channeled by man; discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances
owned by a State, municipality, or other person that do not lead to a
treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances,
leading into privately owned treatment works.

"Disturbed Area" means an area that is altered as a result
of clearing, grading, and/or excavation.

"Environmentally Sensitive Area" ("ESA")
means an area in which plant or animal life or their habitats are either
rare or especially valuable because of their special nature or role in
an ecosystem and which would be easily disturbed or degraded by human
activities and developments (California Public Resources Code § 30107.5).
Areas subject to storm water mitigation requirements are areas designated
as Significant Ecological Areas by the County of Los Angeles (Los Angeles
County Significant Areas Study, Los Angeles County Department of Regional
Planning (1976) and amendments); an area designated as a Significant Natural
Area by the California Department of Fish and Game’s Significant Natural
Areas Program, provided that area has been field verified by the Department
of Fish and Game; an area listed in the Basin Plan as supporting the Rare,
Threatened, or Endangered Species (RARE)" beneficial use; and an area
identified by the City as environmentally sensitive as reflected on the
map which is on file in the City’s Department of Planning, Building and
Code Enforcement.

"Planning Priority Projects" mean those projects
that are required to incorporate appropriate storm water mitigation measures
into the design plan for their respective project, including:

1.Ten (10) or more unit homes (includes
single family homes, multifamily homes, condominiums, and apartments);

8.Projects located in or directly
adjacent to or discharging directly to an ESA, which meet the thresholds
described herein; and

9.Those projects that require the
implementation of a site-specific plan to mitigate post-development
storm water for new development not requiring a SUSMP but which may
potentially have adverse impacts on post-development storm water quality,
where the following project characteristics exist:

and repair:

a.Vehicle or equipment fueling
areas;

b.Vehicle or equipment maintenance
areas, including washing and repair;

c.Commercial or industrial waste
handling or storage;

d.Outdoor handling or storage of
hazardous materials;

e.Outdoor manufacturing areas;

f.Outdoor food handling or processing;

g.Outdoor animal care, confinement,
or slaughter; or

h.Outdoor horticulture activities."

"Project" means all development, redevelopment, and land
disturbing activities.

"Runoff" means any runoff including storm water and dry
weather flows from a drainage area that reaches a receiving water body
or subsurface. During dry weather it is typically comprised of base flow
either contaminated with pollutants or uncontaminated, and nuisance flows.

"Significant Redevelopment" means land-disturbing
activity that results in the creation or addition or replacement of 5,000
square feet or more of impervious surface area on an already developed
site."

"Site" means the land or water area where any
"facility or activity" is physically located or conducted, including
adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity.

Section 5.Section 13.10.065 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 3 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code is hereby amended
by amending paragraphs A, B and C thereof to read, as follows:

"A. Projects Requiring a SUSMP. The following projects
for New Development and Redevelopment, if subject to Discretionary Project
approval in Title 17 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code, shall
require a Storm Water Mitigation Plan that complies with the most recent
SUSMP and the current Municipal NPDES Permit:

1.Ten or more unit homes (includes
developments of single family homes, condominiums and apartments);

2.One Hundred Thousand (100,00) or
more square feet of impervious surface area of industrial/commercial
development;

8.Any New Development or Redevelopment
project located in or directly adjacent to or discharging directly into
an Environmentally Sensitive Area (as defined in this Chapter), where
the Development will:

a.Discharge storm water and urban
runoff that is likely to impact a sensitive biological species or
habitat; and

b.Create 2,500 square feet or
more of impervious surface area.

B. Incorporation of SUSMP into
Project Plans.

1.An applicant for a New Development or a Redevelopment
Project identified in paragraph A of this Section shall incorporate into
the applicant’s project plans a Storm Water Mitigation Plan ("SWMP"),
which includes those Best Management Practices necessary to control storm
water pollution from construction activities and facility operations,
as set forth in the SUSMP applicable to the applicant’s project. Structural
or Treatment Control BMP’s (including, as applicable, post-construction
Treatment Control BMP’s) set forth in project plans shall meet the design
standards set forth in the SUSMP and the current Municipal NPDES Permit.

2.If a Project applicant has included or is required to
include Structural or Treatment Control BMP’s in project plans, the applicant
shall provide verification of maintenance provisions. The verification
shall include the applicant’s signed statement, as part of its project
application, accepting responsibility for all structural and treatment
control BMP maintenance until such time, if any, the property is transferred.

3.A new single-family hillside home Development shall
include mitigation measures to:

a.Conserve natural areas;

b.Protect slopes and channels;

c.Provide storm drain system stenciling
and signage on site;

d.Divert roof runoff to vegetated areas
before discharge unless the diversion would result in slope instability;
and

e.Direct surface flow to vegetated areas
before discharge, unless the diversion would result in slope instability.

4.The following categories of Planning Priority Projects
(as defined in this Chapter) shall be designed to implement post-construction
Treatment Controls, which meet the standards set forth in the SUSMP and
the current Municipal NPDES Permit, to mitigate storm water pollution:

a.New single-family hillside residential
Developments of one (1) acre or more of surface area;

e.Retail gasoline outlets (5,000
square feet or more of impervious surface area and with projected Average
Daily Traffic (ADT) of 100 or more vehicles). [Subsurface Treatment
Control BMP’s which may endanger public safety (i.e., create an explosive
environment) are considered not appropriate];

f.Restaurants (SIC 5812) [5,000 square
feet or more of surface area];

g.Parking lots with 5,000 square
feet or more of surface area or with 25 or more parking spaces;

h.Projects located in, adjacent to
or discharging directly to an Environmentally Sensitive Area that meet
threshold conditions identified herein; and

5.The following categories of Projects which otherwise
do not require a SUSMP, but which may potentially have adverse impacts
on post-development storm water quality, shall be designed to include
post-construction Treatment Controls to mitigate storm water pollution
and the implementation of a site-specific plan to mitigate post-development
storm water for New Development and Redevelopment Projects where one or
more of the following Project characteristics exist:

a.Vehicle or equipment fueling areas;

b.Vehicle or equipment maintenance
areas, including washing and repair;

c.Commercial or industrial waste
handling or storage;

d.Outdoor handling or storage of
hazardous materials;

e.Outdoor manufacturing areas;

f.Outdoor food handling or processing;

g.Outdoor animal care, confinement,
or slaughter; or

h.Outdoor horticulture activities.

6.A SUSMP, or site-specific requirements, including post-construction
storm water mitigation, shall be required for all Planning Priority Projects
(as defined in this Chapter) that undergo Significant Redevelopment (as
defined in this Chapter) in their respective categories.

7.Existing single family structures are exempt from the
Redevelopment requirements set forth in this Chapter."

C.Issuance of Discretionary Permits. No discretionary
permit may be issued for any New Development or Redevelopment Project
identified in paragraph A of this Section until the Authorized Enforcement
Officer confirms that either: (1) the Project plans comply with the applicable
SUSMP requirements, or (2) compliance with the applicable SUSMP requirements
is impracticable for one or more of the reasons set forth in paragraph
E regarding issuance of waivers. Where Redevelopment results in an alteration
to more than fifty percent (50%) of impervious surfaces of a previously
existing development, and the existing development was not subject to
post-development storm water quality control requirements, the entire
Project must be mitigated. Where Redevelopment results in an alteration
to less than fifty percent (50%) of impervious surfaces of a previously
existing development, and the existing development was not subject to
post -development storm water quality control requirements, only the alteration
must be mitigated, and not the entire development."

Section 6.Severability. If
any section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
a decision of any court of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall
not affect the validity of the remaining sections, subsections, sentences,
clauses, portions, or phrases of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section,
subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase without regard to whether
any other section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase of
the Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Section 7.Notice of Exemption.
The City Clerk is directed to file a Notice of Exemption with the Clerk
of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, providing a brief description
of the ordinance, and stating that the Council has found that this ordinance
is exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §§ 15307, and 15308, for
the reasons set forth in Section 1 above.

Section 8.Urgency Findings.
The Los Angeles Board has required that all permittees adopt ordinances
that implement these changes, which are in effect by September 2, 2002.
The Cities of Los Angeles and Arcadia petitioned the State Water Resources
Control Board (the "State Board") for a stay of the order. However,
on April 25, 2002, the State Board issued Order WQO 2002-0007 denying
the stay. Given the City’s legal obligation to comply with the Los Angeles
Board’s Order, and the pressing need to ensure the maintenance, restoration,
enhancement, and protection of water quality and aquatic life, this Ordinance
must become effective immediately to preserve the public peace, health
and safety.

Based on these facts constituting the urgency, and passed
by a four-fifths vote of this City Council, this Ordinance is adopted
immediately upon introduction pursuant to Government Code Section 36934
and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption pursuant to Government
Code Section 36937(b).

PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this day of _________, 2002.

__________________________MAYOR

ATTEST:

______________________
CITY CLERK

RWG File: 700083-2

ORDINANCE NO. ____

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS
VERDES
REGARDING STORM WATER AND URBAN RUNOFF POLLUTION
CONTROL AND AMENDING CHAPTER 13.10 OF TITLE 13 OF
THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES MUNICIPAL CODE

WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes ("City")
is a permittee under the "Waste Discharge Requirements for Municipal
Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges Within the County of Los Angeles,
and the Incorporated Cities Therein, Except the City of Long Beach"
(Order No. 01-182), NPDES Permit No. CAS00401), dated December 13, 2001,
issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board -- Los Angeles
Region (the "Municipal MPDES Permit"), which serves as a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permit under
the Federal Clean Water Act; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, the City Council of the City of Rancho
Palos Verdes adopted Ordinance No. 318 regulating waste discharge for
municipal storm water and urban runoff; and

WHEREAS, on December 6, 2000, the City Council of the
City of Rancho Palos Verdes adopted Ordinance No. 361, entitled "An
Ordinance Of The City Of Rancho Palos Verdes Amending The Storm Water
And Urban Runoff Pollution Control Ordinance To Provide Storm Water Pollution
Control For Planning And Construction Of New Development And Redevelopment
Projects And Amending The Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code" (the
SUSMP Ordinance"); and

WHEREAS, the Municipal NPDES Permit requires the City,
as a permittee, to make specified amendments to its SUSMP Ordinance by
August 1, 2002, to take effect by September 2, 2002;

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO
PALOS VERDES DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Findings.

This ordinance will work to preserve and improve water
quality and aquatic life. In enacting this ordinance, the City is acting
as a regulatory agency to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement,
and protection of natural resources and the environment in response to
the order of the Regional Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region.
Specifically, the ordinance will impose additional restrictions on storm
water runoff from construction sites, require Standard Urban Storm Water
Mitigation Plans and Site Specific Mitigation Plans for additional projects,
and authorize inspections to verify compliance with the discharge limitations.
Consequently, the enactment of this ordinance is categorically exempt
from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §§ 15307 and 15308.

Section 2.The first paragraph of Section
13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10 of Title 13 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal
Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Except as specifically provided herein, any term
used in this Chapter shall be defined as that term is defined in the current
Municipal NPDES Permit, or in the current version of the Standard Urban
Storm Water Mitigation Plan ("SUSMP") approved by the Regional
Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region, or if it is not specifically
defined in either the Municipal NPDES Permit or the SUSMP, then as such
term is defined in the Federal Clean Water Act, as amended, and/or the
regulations promulgated hereunder. If the definition of any term contained
in the current Municipal NPDES Permit conflicts with the definition contained
in the current version of the SUSMP, then the definition contained in
the Municipal NPDES Permit shall govern. The following words and phrases
shall have the following meanings when used in this Chapter:"

Section 3.Section 13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 13 of the Municipal Code is further amended by amending paragraphs
C, D, F, K, P, V, X, and Z to substitute the following definitions for
and in place of the existing definitions, as follows:

"C. "Automotive Service Facilities" means
a facility that is categorized in any one of the following Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) codes: 5013, 5014, 5541, 7532-7534, or 7536-7539
(as amended).

D. "Best Management Practices (BMP’s)" means
activities, practices, facilities, and/or procedures that when implemented
to their maximum efficiency will prevent or reduce pollutants in discharges
and any program, technology, process, siting criteria, operational methods
or measures, or engineered systems, which when implemented prevent, control,
remove, or reduce pollution. Examples of BMP’s may include public education
and outreach, proper planning of development projects, proper cleaning
of catch basin inlets, and proper sludge- or waste handling and disposal,
among others.

F. "Commercial Development" means any development
on private land that is not heavy industrial or residential. The category
includes, but is not limited to: hospitals, laboratories and other medical
facilities, educational institutions, recreational facilities, plant nurseries,
car wash facilities, mini-malls and other business complexes, shopping
malls, hotels, office buildings, public warehouses and other light industrial
complexes.

K. "Hillside" means property located in an area
with known erosive soil conditions, where the development contemplates
grading on any natural slope that is twenty-five percent or greater and
where grading contemplates cut or fill slopes.

P. "Municipal NPDES Permit" means the "Waste
Discharge Requirements for Municipal Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges
Within the County of Los Angeles, and the Incorporated Cities Therein,
Except the City of Long Beach" (Order No. 01-182, NPDES Permit No.
CAS00401), dated December 13, 2001, issued by the California Regional
Water Quality Control Board -- Los Angeles Region, and any successor permit
to that permit.

V. "Parking Lot" means land area or a facility
for the parking or storage of motor vehicles used for businesses, commerce,
industry or personal use with a lot size of five thousand (5,000) square
feet or more of surface area, or with twenty-five (25) or more parking
spaces.

X. "Redevelopment" means land-disturbing activity
that results in the creation, addition or replacement of at least five
thousand (5,000) square feet of impervious surface area on an already
developed site. Redevelopment includes, but is not limited to, the following
activities that meet the minimum standards set forth in this definition:
(1) the expansion of a building footprint; (2) the addition or replacement
of a structure; (3) the replacement of an impervious surface that is not
part of a routine maintenance activity; and (4) land disturbing activities
related to structural or impervious surfaces. Redevelopment does not include
routine maintenance activities that are conducted to maintain original
line and grade, hydraulic capacity, original purpose of facility or an
emergency redevelopment activity that is required to protect public health
and safety.

Section 4.Section 13.10.030 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 3 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code is further amended
to add the following new definitions in appropriate alphabetical sequence:

"Construction" means constructing, clearing, grading,
or excavation that results in soil disturbance. Construction includes
structure teardown. It does not include routine maintenance to maintain
original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of a
facility; emergency construction activities required to immediately protect
public health and safety; interior remodeling with no outside exposure
of construction material or construction waste to storm water; mechanical
permit work; or sign permit work.

"Control" means to minimize, reduce, eliminate, or prohibit
by technological, legal, contractual or other means, the discharge of
pollutants from an activity or activities.

"Development" means any construction, rehabilitation,
redevelopment or reconstruction of any public or private residential project
(whether single-family, multi-unit or planned unit development); industrial,
commercial, retail and other non-residential projects, including public
agency projects; or mass grading for future construction. It does not
include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic
capacity, or original purpose of a facility, nor does it include emergency
construction activities required to immediately protect public health
and safety.

"Directly Adjacent" means situated within 200
feet of the contiguous zone required for the continued maintenance, function,
and structural stability of an environmentally sensitive area.

"Discharge," when used without further qualification
of the term, means the "discharge of a pollutant."

"Discharging Directly" means outflow from a
drainage conveyance system that is composed entirely or predominantly
of flows from the subject, property, development, subdivision, or industrial
facility, and not commingled with the flows from adjacent lands.

"Discharge of a Pollutant" means any addition
of any "pollutant" or combination of pollutants to "waters
of the United States" from any "point source" or, any addition
of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the waters of the "contiguous
zone" or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other
floating craft that is being used as a means of transportation. The term
"discharge of a pollutant" includes additions of pollutants
into waters of the United States from surface runoff that is collected
or channeled by man; discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances
owned by a State, municipality, or other person that do not lead to a
treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances,
leading into privately owned treatment works.

"Disturbed Area" means an area that is altered as a result
of clearing, grading, and/or excavation.

"Environmentally Sensitive Area" ("ESA")
means an area in which plant or animal life or their habitats are either
rare or especially valuable because of their special nature or role in
an ecosystem and which would be easily disturbed or degraded by human
activities and developments (California Public Resources Code § 30107.5).
Areas subject to storm water mitigation requirements are areas designated
as Significant Ecological Areas by the County of Los Angeles (Los Angeles
County Significant Areas Study, Los Angeles County Department of Regional
Planning (1976) and amendments); an area designated as a Significant Natural
Area by the California Department of Fish and Game’s Significant Natural
Areas Program, provided that area has been field verified by the Department
of Fish and Game; an area listed in the Basin Plan as supporting the Rare,
Threatened, or Endangered Species (RARE)" beneficial use; and an area
identified by the City as environmentally sensitive as reflected on the
map which is on file in the City’s Department of Planning, Building and
Code Enforcement.

"Planning Priority Projects" mean those projects
that are required to incorporate appropriate storm water mitigation measures
into the design plan for their respective project, including:

1.Ten (10) or more unit homes (includes single family
homes, multifamily homes, condominiums, and apartments);

8.Projects located in or directly adjacent to or discharging
directly to an ESA, which meet the thresholds described herein; and

9.Those projects that require the implementation of a
site-specific plan to mitigate post-development storm water for new development
not requiring a SUSMP but which may potentially have adverse impacts on
post-development storm water quality, where the following project characteristics
exist:

a.Vehicle or equipment fueling areas;

b.Vehicle or equipment maintenance
areas, including washing and repair;

c.Commercial or industrial waste
handling or storage;

d.Outdoor handling or storage of
hazardous materials;

e.Outdoor manufacturing areas;

f.Outdoor food handling or processing;

g.Outdoor animal care, confinement,
or slaughter; or

h.Outdoor horticulture activities."

"Project" means all development, redevelopment, and land
disturbing activities.

"Runoff" means any runoff including storm water and dry
weather flows from a drainage area that reaches a receiving water body
or subsurface. During dry weather it is typically comprised of base flow
either contaminated with pollutants or uncontaminated, and nuisance flows.

"Significant Redevelopment" means land-disturbing
activity that results in the creation or addition or replacement of 5,000
square feet or more of impervious surface area on an already developed
site."

"Site" means the land or water area where any
"facility or activity" is physically located or conducted, including
adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity.

Section 5.Section 13.10.065 of Chapter 13.10
of Title 3 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code is hereby amended
by amending paragraphs A, B and C thereof to read, as follows:

"A. Projects Requiring a SUSMP. The following projects
for New Development and Redevelopment, if subject to Discretionary Project
approval in Title 17 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code, shall
require a Storm Water Mitigation Plan that complies with the most recent
SUSMP and the current Municipal NPDES Permit:

1.Ten or more unit homes (includes
developments of single family homes, condominiums and apartments);

2.One Hundred Thousand (100,00) or
more square feet of impervious surface area of industrial/commercial
development;

8.Any New Development or Redevelopment
project located in or directly adjacent to or discharging directly into
an Environmentally Sensitive Area (as defined in this Chapter), where
the Development will:

a.Discharge storm water and urban
runoff that is likely to impact a sensitive biological species or
habitat; and

b.Create 2,500 square feet or more
of impervious surface area.

B. Incorporation of SUSMP into Project Plans.

1.An applicant for a New Development or a Redevelopment
Project identified in paragraph A of this Section shall incorporate into
the applicant’s project plans a Storm Water Mitigation Plan ("SWMP"),
which includes those Best Management Practices necessary to control storm
water pollution from construction activities and facility operations,
as set forth in the SUSMP applicable to the applicant’s project. Structural
or Treatment Control BMP’s (including, as applicable, post-construction
Treatment Control BMP’s) set forth in project plans shall meet the design
standards set forth in the SUSMP and the current Municipal NPDES Permit.

2.If a Project applicant has included or is required to
include Structural or Treatment Control BMP’s in project plans, the applicant
shall provide verification of maintenance provisions. The verification
shall include the applicant’s signed statement, as part of its project
application, accepting responsibility for all structural and treatment
control BMP maintenance until such time, if any, the property is transferred.

3.A new single-family hillside home Development shall
include mitigation measures to:

a.Conserve natural areas;

b.Protect slopes and channels;

c.Provide storm drain system stenciling
and signage on site;

d.Divert roof runoff to vegetated
areas before discharge unless the diversion would result in slope instability;
and

e.Direct surface flow to vegetated
areas before discharge, unless the diversion would result in slope instability.

4.The following categories of Planning Priority Projects
(as defined in this Chapter) shall be designed to implement post-construction
Treatment Controls, which meet the standards set forth in the SUSMP and
the current Municipal NPDES Permit, to mitigate storm water pollution:

a.New single-family hillside residential
Developments of one (1) acre or more of surface area;

e.Retail gasoline outlets (5,000
square feet or more of impervious surface area and with projected Average
Daily Traffic (ADT) of 100 or more vehicles). [Subsurface Treatment
Control BMP’s which may endanger public safety (i.e., create an explosive
environment) are considered not appropriate];

f.Restaurants (SIC 5812) [5,000 square
feet or more of surface area];

g.Parking lots with 5,000 square
feet or more of surface area or with 25 or more parking spaces;

h.Projects located in, adjacent to
or discharging directly to an Environmentally Sensitive Area that meet
threshold conditions identified herein; and

5.The following categories of Projects which otherwise
do not require a SUSMP, but which may potentially have adverse impacts
on post-development storm water quality, shall be designed to include
post-construction Treatment Controls to mitigate storm water pollution
and the implementation of a site-specific plan to mitigate post-development
storm water for New Development and Redevelopment Projects where one or
more of the following Project characteristics exist:

a.Vehicle or equipment fueling areas;

b.Vehicle or equipment maintenance
areas, including washing and repair;

c.Commercial or industrial waste
handling or storage;

d.Outdoor handling or storage of
hazardous materials;

e.Outdoor manufacturing areas;

f.Outdoor food handling or processing;

g.Outdoor animal care, confinement,
or slaughter; or

h.Outdoor horticulture activities.

6.A SUSMP, or site-specific requirements, including post-construction
storm water mitigation, shall be required for all Planning Priority Projects
(as defined in this Chapter) that undergo Significant Redevelopment (as
defined in this Chapter) in their respective categories.

7.Existing single family structures are exempt from the
Redevelopment requirements set forth in this Chapter."

C.Issuance of Discretionary Permits. No discretionary
permit may be issued for any New Development or Redevelopment Project
identified in paragraph A of this Section until the Authorized Enforcement
Officer confirms that either: (1) the Project plans comply with the applicable
SUSMP requirements, or (2) compliance with the applicable SUSMP requirements
is impracticable for one or more of the reasons set forth in paragraph
E regarding issuance of waivers. Where Redevelopment results in an alteration
to more than fifty percent (50%) of impervious surfaces of a previously
existing development, and the existing development was not subject to
post-development storm water quality control requirements, the entire
Project must be mitigated. Where Redevelopment results in an alteration
to less than fifty percent (50%) of impervious surfaces of a previously
existing development, and the existing development was not subject to
post -development storm water quality control requirements, only the alteration
must be mitigated, and not the entire development."

Section 6.Severability. If
any section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
a decision of any court of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall
not affect the validity of the remaining sections, subsections, sentences,
clauses, portions, or phrases of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section,
subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase without regard to whether
any other section, subsection, sentence, clause, portion, or phrase of
the Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Section 7.Notice of Exemption.
The City Clerk is directed to file a Notice of Exemption with the Clerk
of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, providing a brief description
of the ordinance, and stating that the Council has found that this ordinance
is exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines §§ 15307, and 15308, for
the reasons set forth in Section 1 above.